Tasting notes: A brand new wine from this tremendous vineyard, The Sokol Blosser Kalita Vineyard 2021 Estate Pinot Noir bursts with classic Yamhill-Carlton dark-fruit notes, including black cherry, cranberry, and blackberry. Warm spices, espresso, and woodsy forest floor are backed up with grippy tannins to balance the fruit.
La Spinona Barbaresco Secondine is made from 100 percent Nebbiolo.
This single-vineyard Barbaresco comes from his 3.5 hectares on the cru of Secondine. It is the commune of Barbaresco below the zone of Rabaja Basa and Paje and is where Gaja’s San Lorenzo is located. It is 230 meters above sea level with a southern exposure.
Excellent with game, red meats, truffle dishes and aged cheeses.
Color: Deep ruby red with a hint of garnet in the reflections.
Bouquet: Bright bouquet full of cherries, raspberries, licorice and floral notes.
Taste: Elegant and refined with delicate, soft tannins. It is fresh, velvety and extremely well balanced.
Review:
-James Suckling 94 Points
Sun Bee evokes warm summer days by infusing natural mango flavors into a blend of California white wines. A strong golden color in the glass leads to a vibrant mango and tropical fruit basket on the nose. The taste is reminiscent of a puree of mango or a juicy, fruity Chardonnay. There are hints of Lychee and Passion Fruit rounding out the bright, inviting flavor.
Pairs remarkably well with spicy foods where many wines struggle. Try it with Savory Curry dishes like Chicken Tikka Masala or Tacos Al Pastor.
Sunset Hills Shenandoah Springs Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
This is our first release of a clone-specific wine for Sunset Hills. The goal is to show you a specific terroir, one that year after year delivers excellent fruit quality. I chose clone 96 for its complexity both in ripening and barrel aging. During ripening, the fruit has notes of pineapple and pear with great acidity. I saw this wine as a chance to highlight not only the vineyard, but how detailed we can get in growing and making wine.
100% Chardonnay:
75% Clone 96
20% Clone 76
5% Clone 17
Notes of light honeysuckle, Asian pear, raw almond, and lemon custard. Medium body and medium acid.
A slope (un talud) leading up to a mountain where centuries of rock falls have left the soil beneath full of large angular rocks, and therefore useless for most agriculture. Deposited hugger-mugger amongst the clay and sand however, they offer perfect drainage and allow vines to grow, forcing their roots ever downwards in search of water, picking up minerals along the way. If you wanted to explain to someone what Cabernet Sauvignon tasted like, you could do a lot worse than showing them this beautiful expression of the variety which demonstrates great purity, concentration and elegance.
Review:
Talud is from the oldest cabernet sauvignon vineyards on Tabalí’s estate in the coastal Maipo zone, 50 kilometers from the Pacific, planted in 1999. The soils are colluvial, which often deliver firm, pointed tannins, and those are present here, but they’re very nicely accompanied by juicy red fruit and bright acidity that allows this wine to put its fresh, vibrant facet in the foreground. Take note, however, there are deep, dense flavors here. It’s still a very young cabernet, so make room in the cellar.
-Patricio Tapia - Descorchados 95 Points
Tamarack Chardonnay is made from 100% Chardonnay.
Bright aromas of ruby red grapefruit, mango and stone fruit are found in the bouquet while on the palate, the bright acidity of this wine showcases flavors of guava, crisp Granny Smith apples and Asian pears. Combing the best of both cooperage techniques, the combination of aging in stainless steel highlights the fruit while the aging in neutral French oak provides an added complexity to the wine.
Aged 60% in neutral premier French oak and 3% in new premier French Oak 37% stainless steel.Dropped by gravity straight to the press, the juice is pumped directly to barrel or tank and chilled, inoculated with Chardonnay 3079 yeast, primary fermentation started and finished, secondary fermentation started but completed to preferred taste, typically around 50% completion. All fermentation is done in a 58 degree Fahrenheit barrel room.
Walla Walla Valley Appellation: Alderbanks Vineyard
Columbia Valley Appellation: Bacchus and Gamache Brothers Vineyards
Yakima Valley Appellation: Olsen Brothers and French Creek Vineyards
Domaine Jean Grivot Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Aux Boudots is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Domaine Jean Grivot is among the great names in Burgundian wine. Étienne Grivot and his wife Marielle took over from Étienne’s father Jean Grivot in 1987. The vineyards are densely planted and farmed organically “sans certification” while the aim in the cellar is for balance and clear expression of terroir.
Jean Grivot’s 38.3 acres spread across 22 appellations with vineyards in the communes of Vosne-Romanée, Vougeot, Chambolle-Musigny, and Nuits-Saint-Georges. Besides the three grand crus, there are 8 premier crus including the much lauded Les Beaux Monts and Suchots in Vosne-Romanée. The grapes are completely de-stemmed and fermentation is spontaneous.
Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux Boudots 1er cru lies in the “Zone Vosnoise” or northern end of Nuits-Saint-Georges just below Les Damodes. It borders Vosne-Romanée Aux Malconsorts 1er just to its north. Its position slightly lower on the slope with deep soil full of pebbles results in a richer and fuller wine.
The grapes are destemmed and maceration à froid usually lasts just a day or two. The alcoholic fermentation is spontaneous and malolactic fermentation occurs in barrel. Depending on the vintage, the proportion of new oak is around 30-60% for the premier crus.
The wine shows aromas and flavors of red berries, herbs, and purple flowers. The palate is rich with ripe fruit and medium weight with bright acidity and fine tannins. Aging in 30-60% new Burgundian pièce brings notes of vanilla, toast, and baking spices.
Red Burgundy might be the world’s most flexible food wine. The wine’s high acidity, medium body, medium alcohol, and low tannins make it very food-friendly. Red Burgundy, with its earthy and sometimes gamey character, is a classic partner to roasted game birds, grilled duck breast, and dishes that feature mushrooms, black truffles, or are rich in umami.
Reviews:
‘The 2020 Nuits Saint-Georges Aux Boudots Ter Cru has the best aromatics among Grivat Nuits Saint-Georges with very well defined red berry fruit, briary and lignt sous-bois aromas. The palate is medium-badied with fine-grain tannins, slightly savory on the entry, fresh and saline on the finish. This has real verve and class, though it will benefit from time in bottle
-Vinous 93-95 Points
A wine with the substance and structure to support the generous lashings of new oak used for maturation, and the overall effect is elegant and classic in style. Aux Boudots, where Grivot has 0.85ha, is at the northern edge of Nuits, just over the border from Vosne-Romanée Malconsorts. They began to pick on the 3rd of September – Etienne specified that they are very particular that the tannins are ripe and do what they can to prolong the vegetative cycle. Still, the grapes were picked with an entirely correct pH of around 3.4.
-Decanter 94 Points
Paul Hobbs West Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Hailing from the newly established West Sonoma Coast AVA,.
Lovely ruby red shades catch the eye, while exotic notes of tart Morello cherry and pungent pine forest swirl with fresh raspberry. Bright, pure fruit carries through on the palate, layered with earthy hints of damp loam and rocky salinity, all backed by the elegant, fine-grained tannins and stylish grip that cool West Sonoma Coast offers at its best.
Review:
A rush of sugared beet, pomegranate, and vanilla-soaked raspberry mingles with a touch of salinity on entry, while a soil component reflects the super-cool climate of the appellation. Power and elegance coexist in this red, which finishes with graphite, peony, basil, and exotic incense.
-Tasting Panel 97 Points